Just a week after the South African Rugby Union advised their New Zealand counterparts that the world famous Maori team is 'too racial' to play against the Springboks, Saru President's Council member Cheeky Watson revealed that he wants a new "black African" Super Rugby franchise in the Eastern Cape.

Just last week Saru said in the statement that the racial make-up of the Maori team, scheduled to play the Boks in Soweto in June, was "fundamental stumbling block" that could prevent the game from going ahead.

However, this has not stopped Watson, who returned to the Saru President's Council as President of the Eastern Province Rugby Union, from enlisting the help of government to ensure that Eastern Cape franchise is more racially exclusive than the Maori side.

Watson, urged the Sport and Recreation Minister Makhenkesi Stofile to intervene and ensure the new franchise is on the agenda for an upcoming Sanzar meeting.

Sanzar (South Africa, New Zealand and Australian Rugby) bosses are scheduled to meet in Dubai on March 4 during the World Cup Sevens tournament.

Watson was briefing the National Assembly's sport and recreation committee on a new Eastern Cape franchise to be launched on June 16, which he said was even more important than the 2015 Rugby World Cup Saru was bidding for.

Watson said he was not sure of Saru's commitment on the issue.

"We make no apology that this is a black African franchise that's going to be launched on June the 16th," he said.

He made no mention of what the role of coloured (mixed race) or white people will be in the franchise, or what his role (as a white person) would be in the new franchise.

"This is a franchise that's going to touch every single corner of South Africa.

"And I really think that this is something that is going to impact and really change the face of South African rugby like never, ever before," he said.

"And I think we've got to realise that there are one or two people who will stand in the way, but we've got to push this thing through, we've got to make this thing successful and make this thing happen.

"And I really think comrade chair, I make an appeal to you that the honourable minister, there's a Sanzar meeting on the fourth of March in Dubai, where the honourable minister needs to get hold of [Saru President Oregan] Hoskins and [Saru MD Andy] Marinos and stress upon them that the Super 15 franchise be on the agenda at that meeting, because I know your commitment and I know government's commitment on this issue, but I'm not 100 percent sure about Saru's commitment on this issue."

Very much African

Committee chairman Butana Khompela replied that the committee resolved to send a letter to the minister to highlight the "plight of the meeting" in Dubai.

Elaborating on a presentation document handed out to committee members, but which he declined to make available to the media, Watson said if one looked at the franchise's logo, "it is very much African".

"If you look at the whole design and the launch of this franchise, it is very much African.

"If you take the logo and compare the logo to the rest of the logos in the Super 14 arena, this logo sticks out like a sore thumb.

"It incorporates over 500 years of history in the Eastern Cape. It encapsulates transformation like transformation has never been encapsulated, and it takes us as the Eastern Cape people, and places our heritage, our culture, our history in the forefronts of the world," he said.

"This comes from the history and the culture of the people of the Eastern Cape."

After quoting from the Bible, Watson said "now is the time to deliver this franchise. Now is the time to launch this franchise".

"And I think from our side, we're not going to compromise, we're not going to stand back, we're not going to make excuses about raising a black African franchise.

"Once the Eastern Cape and the franchise rises out of the Nelson Mandela Bay Métropole, it's going to infect in a positive way the rest of South Africa and the face of rugby will never be the same.

"And this is why this franchise in my opinion is more important than the World Cup [bid] that they're [Saru] trying to solicit government support for," Watson said.

Khompela made it clear that he, the African National Congress and government fully supported Saru's World Cup bid.


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